Help catching a horse

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donnaf

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Hi

Wonder if anyone has advice as to why or what to do!!

I have had my horse for 6 years next spring and i have never had any problems catching him, in the last 4mths every time i try and catch him he runs off one time 25mins later still running round, have tried sending him away (didnt work) try carrots apples polos, he grabs them and the does a runner, its now really a pain in the bum, hate horses you cant catch!!

Thankyou
 
Leave the headcollar on so you can make a quick grab. Under no circumstances does the horse get a polo or carrot until the lead rope is on, the horse will then get rewarded with one
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IMO the worst thing to do with a naughty horse to catch is to give it a reward before it is caught...they soon work out they can take and run!!! :P
 
I've had my anglo-arab for 16 years - he is now 22 & he is the master at escaping being caught. I find the easiest way to get him beside the obvious leaving headcollar on is to reduce the amount of space he has to run around in. You may need to seection the field off with electric fence to do this. Once I've got fox in a suitably restricted area, it is usually then possible to get him in a corner with the use of a lunge line & a friend to hold the other end - just be care not to wrap the lunge rope around your hand in case the horse does try to make a bid for freedom & be ready to drop the lunge rope if you have to. Once he is in a corner it is then easy to just walk up to him & clip the rope on as Fox uses space & his endless stamina as a means to avoid being caught.

Another useful trick is to leave a foot long length of old leadrope hanging off the headcollar (make sure it is a safety turnout headcollar though). That way you can grab the old bit of leadrope that is dangling without having your finger wrenched off when he buggers off across the field.
 
if you can't leave the headcollar on, can you get the rope around his neck while he's trying to get the treat, at least then if he does piss off you've got hold of him.
 
I recently asked the same question on here...like you my mare started avoiding being caught.

I've solved this (may seem cruel) by not giving her tea if i couldn't catch her. I got her feed ready, brought it outside with me so she could see it and stood at the gate. She soon walked over, and when i walked into the field, was eager to have her head collar put on. The one time she ran off, i didn't give her feed and she hasn't done it since. One night doesn't hurt...although i felt really bad, but she learnt through that one experience to allow me to catch her. If she starts it again, then i shal do the same. However, i always give her a reward once i do have the head collar on and never before. In effect, if she lets e catch her, she gets a treat and grub!
 
could you not tempt him with a carrot but don't let him have it until you've got a rope round his neck or the headcollar on?
 
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I wouldn't leave the headcollar on as you're likely to break your fingers if he tries to leave as you try to grab him....you'd be best off trying to get the leadrope round the neck before you try the headcollar.

Try going up to him in field without a headcollar when you don't want to catch him, if he lets you touch him, give him a stroke etc then give him a treat and walk off.

Walk slowly up to him, as soon as he makes a move turn your back and put your head down, if he stays still slowly back towards him, as soon as goes to move away stop, approach him at the shoulder instead of head on.

Hope these ideas help.
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Well thankyou for all your ideas, will def (probably try them all) until hopefully one works, but must go to bed now i have a little one stirring.

Thanks again, its all been very helpful information.

Please feel free to carry on with advice i will check again tomorrow evening.
 
My (now dead) mare used to do this occasionally. Sometimes she'd have a funny few weeks and do it a lot. It was a game for her and if she didn't get fed up of me following her after say 5 minutes, she got left in the field on her own and I used to come back later and she was putty!
 
My mare does this for about one month of each year - usually just as the spring grass is appearing, the only way I can catch her is to leave a headcollar on - as I walk towards her make no eye contact whatsoever, usually I make a point of almost looking totally the other way with my eyes on her of course, she watches me like a hawk so I go right past her then stop a few paces past her, get a bag of something she likes out of my pocket, something like an empty crisp packet with a carrott/apple etc in, i make sure it makes plenty of noise, then I hear her creeping up behind me neck outstretched trying to see what i've got - still make no eye contact and don't look at her , she eventually cannot resist but comes forward when I hold her headcollar whilst she's sniffing the bag, stick the rope on then she gets the treat.

I found it very hard to try to get a rope round her neck so had to leave the headcollar on as to get the rope round I had to turn towards her, and it is at that point she buggers off full pelt bucking and farting, then she knows i'm after her and that day is written off, can't get even close again !

After saying all this though thinking about it - she didn't do it this spring - thank gawd.

Good luck.
 
sorry might be me being paranoid, but I would be worrying as to what is causing this severe change in behaviour. Having had the horse for 6years there must be a reason why you now have a catching problem. Is she ridden or are you just catching to put to bed/feed etc? It could be that she is in pain so doesn't want to be caught because she is going to be ridden. I am not saying that all horses that can't be caught are doing it because they are in pain, but I would be worried in this sudden change in behaviour. I would seriously get her checked out by the vet as she maybe trying to tell you something.

Goodluck and I hope you get things sorted
 
I think you should leave a headcollar on, I think it is a psycologicaly thing for some horses, they feel half caught already.

But if this horses was good to catch for 6 years and now is not easy to catch, something must be going on to make him change his behaviour. You need to look at what has changed.
 
There's a horse at my yard who I look after sometimes. He's a massive 18.2 and if he is not handled regularly he becomes difficult to catch.

He will happily come up to me but as soon as I go to put the headcollar on he will squturn his bum towards me and show me his two back hoofs.

What usually works is throwing the lead rope around his neck, for some reason he then seems to assume he's been captured and will stand like a little lamb so I can put head collar on!!
 
what worked with my horrible to catch horse (often spent three hours chasing him round the field) was to take a small bucket of feed out into the field, and just put it down so he could eat it. Did this for a few days, then stood next to him. Next step was to pat/stroke him on his neck/front end, and finally get a rope round his neck. Since then I have had one bad day with him, and ended up chasing him round the field for hours, but got him in the end. He now wears a head collar, and each time I want to catch him he gets a bucket of food taken out. I also feed him after I ride him. (hes very greedy)
 
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